Non-Self of All Phenomena (II)

All phenomena are without a self, including the non-self of persons and the non-self of phenomena. The non-self nature of the eighth consciousness is one aspect of the non-self of phenomena realized in Mahayana. The non-self of persons, as stated in the Agama Sutras, is the realization by Arhats that the five aggregates and the eighteen dhatus are not the self. From the perspective of the five aggregates: the aggregate of form, arising from non-existence to existence, is impermanent, subject to birth and cessation, and is not the self; the aggregate of sensation, flowing from thought to thought, constantly changing, is not the self; the aggregate of perception, impermanent and subject to birth and cessation, flowing from thought to thought, constantly changing, is not the self; the aggregate of mental formations, subject to birth, abiding, change, and cessation, unable to endure long, is not the self; the aggregate of consciousness, arising and ceasing moment by moment, born then ceasing, ceasing then born, is not the self. The five aggregates arise due to causes and conditions and are not the self.

From the perspective of the eighteen dhatus: the first five sense faculties, arising from non-existence to existence and from existence to cessation, cannot be grasped and are not the self; the sixth sense faculty, the mental faculty, with its continuous flow of consciousness-seeds, arising and ceasing moment by moment, can also be extinguished when an Arhat attains Nirvana, and is not the self; the six consciousnesses constitute the aggregate of consciousness, subject to birth, cessation, and change, and are not the self; the six sense objects—form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects—arise from non-existence to existence and from existence to non-existence, arising and ceasing due to conditions, constantly changing, and are not the self. The eighteen dhatus arise and cease due to conditions, are impermanent and subject to change, and are not the self.

This is the non-self of persons concerning the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus in general. The non-self of phenomena in the Hinayana teaching refers to the absence of a self in all phenomena arising from the interdependent combination of the five aggregates, six sense bases, twelve sense fields, and eighteen dhatus. For example, the eye seeing form, the ear hearing sound, the six sense faculties contacting the six sense objects, walking, standing, sitting, lying down, dressing, eating, speaking, laughing, performing good or evil deeds, mental thinking, understanding, analyzing, investigating, and other activities of the seven consciousness-minds—all these phenomena are not real, arise and cease due to conditions, are impermanent and subject to change, and cannot endure long. All these phenomena lack the nature of a self; that is, they are not the self.

The non-self of persons and the non-self of phenomena for Mahayana Bodhisattvas are observed from the perspective of Tathagatagarbha, examining the illusory and unreal nature of the self in the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus, and observing that all phenomena arising from the combination of aggregates, sense fields, and dhatus are functional manifestations of Tathagatagarbha, without substantial reality. In addition to encompassing the Hinayana non-self of persons and non-self of phenomena discussed earlier, it also includes the realization of the non-self nature of the eighth consciousness, as well as the emptiness of the grasping subject (the seven consciousness-minds) and the emptiness of the grasped objects (the six sense objects)—that is, both subject and object are empty. The aspect of the emptiness and non-self of persons in the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus exists because the eighth consciousness provides the seeds for the five aggregates and the seeds for the eighteen dhatus, thereby sustaining all activities of the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus.